Galvin Bistrot de Luxe’s birthday

Rain in the summer in London is a real pain because even if it looks cold outside, it’s really not. Rather, it’s muggy and humid and when I get to wherever I’m going, I’m all hot and sweaty because I overdressed. Such was the case as I arrived at Galvin’s Bistrot De Luxe for a pre-birthday dinner a few weeks ago.

Galvin had just the thing to cool me down as I joined everyone else at the dinner table. Sipping on a French 75, the house aperitif for the month of September in celebration of their birthday, was just the ticket. Galvin has taken the classic cocktail and put a twist on it, originally made with champagne, gin, lemon juice and sugar, they’ve substituted the gin for calvados which gave it a nice apple-y twist. Hosted by Sara Galvin, we were there to take a trip down memory lane to five years previous and sample the menu as it was then.

On the menu for dinner were some originals from 5 years ago. Starting with the terrine of ham hock & foie gras with onion confit, a very tasty, meaty slab of terrine, it was paired with an Alsatian riesling, the Brandluft 2006 from Dom. Lucas & Andre Rieffel. I love most rieslings and think they are great food wines. The Brandluft did not disappoint, a classic nose of spices, limes and riverside minerality with plenty of ripe peaches on the palate and a refreshing limey finish. A fruity but dry wine, it worked a quite well with the sweetness of the ham, score another one for riesling.

A Corbieres was next, the 2008 Ch. Ollieux-Romanis. A blend of carignan, syrah and grenache it’s a big, powerful wine. Carignan is always a signal for rather muscular wines to my mind and this was definitely in that category. Blackberries and fruits on the nose and palate with excellent structure, a wine that was suited to the Pithivier of wood pigeon & quail that we had for the main course. Another dish from 5 years ago, it was rich and gamey served with a velvety red wine jus, classic but that’s what Galvin does, classic dishes that don’t disappoint. As for the wines, again excellent choices that stand the test of food and wine matching.

All of these dishes will be available as well as the aperitif maison, the French 75. Galvin’s official birthday is tomorrow, Sept 5 but you can visit anytime in September to sample the terrine and pithivier.